Marcus: Broken Android
by AllAmericanSlurp
Summary: This is the untold story of what made Marcus so indifferent and unfeeling. This is the untold story of what really happened to him. This is the story of his painful past. This is the story of what he must do in the remaining three months of his life. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Renewal

**Hello, AllAmericanSlurp here. Since I've already written two stories, I decided to take a stab at a third. Please don't flame, but constructive criticism is more than welcome! Here you go!**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

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Marcus was nothing but an android—a specially designed robot built to resemble a human. He couldn't think for himself. His father Douglas had carefully crafted him to obey orders, no matter what. He had grown up thinking of the other side of the Davenports as evil, and his side of the Davenports good. He had grown up with what he thought was a completely normal childhood that involved living in a basement and occasionally going on outings. He had grown up as an android built to resemble a human.

But what had made Marcus the way he really was? If he hadn't had such a painful past, well, would he have grown to become real, true friends with the lab rats?

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_One-year-old Marcus._

Douglas wrapped his hands around Marcus' midsection and whispered to himself, "My boy, aren't you a beaut. Yes, you will help me get back what was mine! It was all mine! And Donny stole it from me."

Marcus opened his eyes, and saw a face. It wasn't a friendly face—right away, the little android knew it was the face that plastered on a friendly layer when it wanted to, and took it off when it had to. He knew that, if he wanted to survive as long as he possibly could, he had to be with the friendly face, not the real face.

Douglas neglected the young android—Marcus didn't need food, and he didn't do his "business," but, well, even robots need attention—especially if they're designed to act human.

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_Five-year-old Marcus._

Douglas screamed in a rage, "You can't do anything right! You can't do anything _at all_! One SIMPLE task—I ask you to do ONE THING!"

Marcus cowered from his creator. He was only five. He couldn't have known better. But did Douglas care? No. No, he didn't. Unknown to Marcus, he had created Marcus for his own personal reasons and vendetta.

"Daddy, I tried! I really did! They're too strong!" If he had been human, tears would've been streaming down his cheeks. But even so, he couldn't cry. Crying was for babies and flimsy, weak people. He couldn't cry. He was Marcus, a powerful (once older) machine. What kind of powerful being cried? At least, that was his creator's/father's motto. Marcus never saw Douglas cry. And since Douglas was the only main influence in the little android's life, he tried to use Douglas as his role model, albeit an unsatisfactory role model.

He'd been in the simulator, fighting rebels. His chip had many abilities, yes. But, well, a five-year-old is a five-year-old. No five year old, human or not, could possibly take out twenty rebels trained in martial arts. Any regular father would have known that. But Douglas, well, he wasn't a father, was he? He was a creator. And creators always had to be one step ahead of their creations. (A/N **That last sentence was based on a phrase from ****Traitor****, by 88Keys. I absolutely love that sentence! Check out 88Keys' story if you haven't already!**)

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_Nine-year-old Marcus._

Marcus grunted as he was practicing with his super-speed. He could now speed up to three hundred fifty miles per hour, but did Douglas care? No, of course not. Douglas was only satisfied when Marcus was pushed to his limits, were, since he was an android, relatively limitless.

Douglas yelled below him, as Marcus was standing on the balcony in their lab, "Okay, that was two seconds! Come on, Marcus! I think that you can get to where _I'm_ standing," he motioned the area surrounding him, "to where _you_ are now in _less_ than two seconds, don't you?"

Marcus sighed inwardly. No, he didn't think so, but he had to impress his fatherly figure, or else Douglas had threatened to turn him out on the streets. "Yes, Dad."

Douglas smiled, and it was not a good smile. "Fine. Show me." Marcus sped back down the metal stairway and up to Douglas, in which he created a breeze that ruffled Douglas' hair.

Douglas grumbled and launched into a rant loudly, "Not the hair, Marcus! Not the hair! How many times have I told you to _never_ mess up my hair! The best multimillionaires have good hair! Plus, I just visited the hairdresser! NOT THE HAIR!"

Marcus dreamed that night. No, it wasn't a dream—it was a nightmare—the worst of nightmares, the deadliest of nightmares, the most fatal nightmare of deadliest nightmares.

"_What have I told you about revealing the fact that you're an androi—bionic? You're never supposed to let _anyone_ find out!"_

_Marcus whimpered. "I'm sorry, Dad! Please forgive me! I never meant to make that mistake, really, I didn't! Don't throw me out on the streets! I need you, Dad!"_

_Douglas laughed cruelly. "Oh, I won't throw you out on the streets, boy."_

_Marcus, relieved, said, "Oh, Dad, I knew you wouldn't! Please forgive me! It was all a terrible mistake and a bad misunderstanding! I'll always be your son, right?"_

_Douglas continued, harshly. "No, Marcus, you're not going to be thrown out on the streets. You're just a miserable failure—a failure, I tell you! Adam, Bree, and Chase wouldn't make the same mistakes as _you_! No, I'm giving you to the government—you're useless enough as you already are! I can see you won't become the ultimate androi—bionic that I thought you were."_

_Marcus cowered, and then a thought struck him. Who were Adam, Bree, and Chase? Were they other bionics that Douglas had? But the thought was quickly extinguished. He was going to be handed over to the government!_

"No…" Marcus whispered while recharging. "No… don't! Dad! Come back!" Chest heaving, he woke up, drenched in robotic sweat. (A/N **Well, I had to give **_**some**_** sensory detail, didn't I? It's based on the line from Perry 2.0—Chase: "She's a robot! **_**How**_** does she sweat?**)

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_Thirteen-year-old Marcus._

Marcus flexed his hand. The tendons below seemed to move, almost as if he were human, even if he didn't know he was an android.

He stared for a long time at his palms. He'd heard once on television that you could tell a lot about a person by their palms. Could you really?

Well, his palms were eerily smooth. They were always cold, like metal. His fingernails never grew, his hands were never dry or cracked, and they never seemed to cut. Ever.

_Was he—? No. _He couldn't be. Dad had always told him that he was simply a bionic human being! And Dad was the only person he trusted in this world.

Marcus spent the next hour just looking at himself. He _had_ to be human; look at him! He looked, well, like any other person—hair, eyes, nose, torso.

But he couldn't stop thinking about his palms. Whenever he saw Dad's palms, they had creases in them—a curved seven-shaped crease and a curved one-shaped crease. Why didn't _he_ have creases? Why were his palms so unnaturally smooth?

But if he was one of those androids, Dad would have told him the truth, wouldn't he have? Androids only lived to sixteen; he knew that. But if Dad was lying, well… he only had three more years.

Three.

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_Fifteen-year-old Marcus; the night before the Bionic Showdown._

Marcus watched Adam, Bree, Chase, Leo, and Donald Davenport laughing about something. They were normal to him. They had a good time with each other. He would have given anything to have grown up with a father like that. He would have given anything to have a loving family. He would have given anything to be one of them.

Or would he? Did he like his life? He didn't know. What did being happy mean? Did he ever really have any happy moments in his life? He couldn't remember.

But this Marcus, this soft Marcus that wished for a warm home and a loving family—he didn't exist. Not when Douglas was around; not when his cousins taunted him indirectly when embracing each other for just a simply group hug.

Maybe if Douglas hadn't told him that Adam, Bree, and Chase were the antagonists—they might have even become friends. Real friends…

Marcus was very powerful, but his soul was indifferent, cold. And coldness wasn't born.

_Coldness was made._

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**So, how did you like it? I always wondered what Marcus really wished for, if Douglas hadn't raised him the way he did, pitting Marcus and the Rats against each other. Don't forget to R&R, and check out my other stories, Thoughts of the Truth and Bionic Ice Skating! **

**Should I continue? When I began the rough outline it was just meant to be a one-shot... I enjoyed writing this from Marcus' point of view, but I'm still not exactly satisfied with the ending—if you faithful reviewers want me to have Marcus alive after the rocks crush him (yes, an old story idea, and there are many stories out there like that, but I'd love to write about that even so). So tell me what you'd like me to do by reviewing! **

**(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors.)**


	2. Exposure

**Okay, so I discovered since this story is getting pushed further and further down the storyline in the Lab Rats archive. That means less people are likely to see it, therefore I did not get the reviews I hoped I would. However, since you guys really did want me to continue, I give you this chapter.**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

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Dust, rocks, soil, grit, spiders, and other creepy crawlies swarmed and invaded Douglas' former lab. The cage-like capsule was destroyed and cyber-desk was demolished. Walls had caved in from the shock-wave blast and plaster had crumbled to the ground, joining the dust and other particles.

But there was one more thing down there, barely moving.

_Barely._

Marcus groaned, his strength almost sapped by the shock-wave blast, but as he wasn't human and could stand tougher situations, he was still strong enough to push away the rocks and crawl out to the surface, much like the spiders surrounding him, buried in the rubble.

He blinked his eyes. His hair was a total mess, ruffled and dusty with alabaster. What had happened? As an instinct, he looked at his palms.

They were still smooth. Somehow, even though is gray clothes were smothered in dust and grit; his hands were white and unblemished; creepily immaculate.

_Now_ he knew for sure, though, when he looked at his arm, his left harm, that Dad had lied to him for fifteen years.

The lower part of his arm, between his elbow and middle-finger-tip, was all wiring and metal, sparking and zapping away.

He stared at it, hypnotized by it. For a fleeting moment, he thought about how fun it'd be to try and scare pedestrians with it.

But then what? It would give him shallow joy, but was it worth it in the long run? What if he was turned into the government? He'd be dismantled, reassembled, and eventually burned out.

He looked at his metallic arm once again; almost not believing it was his. He flexed it like he done two years ago when he was thirteen. When he moved his shoulder socket, the arm moved. When he stopped, it went still.

That arm was his, _all his._

He cradled it, thinking that it was all he had left. And it was—he'd seen Dad exiting, abandoning him.

But he'd been raised to do his "mission" no matter what—and his cousins were escaping. He could have turned the tables either way at that point—he could have joined his father or he could have stopped the lab rats.

Neither had happened.

And his arm was all he had to show for it.

Well, other than the black, pale, lifeless eyes, shaggy hair, and dusty ragged clothing, of course.

But mostly the arm. _That metallic arm._

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He knew he had to go somewhere. Eventually the authorities would discover the seemingly innocent blue-siding house, and then where would he be?

Destroyed, that's for sure.

He left the house after grabbing some rubber gloves, elbow length, putting them, and not looking back. Briefly, he considered turning toward his cousins, but only briefly.

After all the pain he'd inflicted on them, wounding Adam, taunting Bree, almost _killing_ Chase, well, of course they wouldn't take him in warmly, would they?

Would they?

No. He had to go somewhere where he would be safe.

Safe, but alone.

_All alone._

These were his thoughts when he walked down to the drugstore, where, since he couldn't shower for fear of sparking even more than he already was, he would buy at least deodorant and other such necessities.

Wearily, he stepped inside the store. A bell tinkled, too cheerfully, in his opinion. Why did everyone seem to be so happy when he couldn't?

Well, easy! They weren't androids with a sparking arm that would die/burn out in three months.

Marcus laughed bitterly in his mind, and stepped up to the counter and laid down the items he'd selected while deep in thought. The cashier rang them all up and then said, "Hon, what have you got under those gloves?"

Marcus could handle anything—rebels in Syria, tsunamis, his three bionic cousins. But he wasn't prepared for this question. He froze. How'd she know? Damn that sparking noise! Was it really that loud?

The cashier looked concerned. "Hon, what have you got under those gloves?" She repeated.

Marcus ignored her; he thought that would be the right, best, and safest option. "Bye," he said, rather quickly, and tried to walk away.

Big mistake.

The cashier, whom he considered too nosy for his own good, grabbed the glove.

And she revealed his arm.

_The wrong one._

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**Ha-ha! I'm so evil. I love going from the tortured reviewer to the torturing author! Just ask MoonlitShadowsoftheHumanSoul! If I can get ten reviews in one week, I will update. But **_**only**_** if I get ten reviews. So please R&R! And don't forget to check out my other stories, Bionic Ice Skating and Thoughts of the Truth. And please tell other people about this story! :-)  
**

**(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors.)**


	3. Quick Thinking

**He, y'all! Thanks to a guest, I received the required number, 10 reviews, on Chapter 3. So I'm disappointed in you all! If you don't review right away, it gets pushed farther and farther down the archive and then no one really reads it unless they've typed it in the search box because they're re-reading it on purpose. Following me? Anyway, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed and added it to their favorites list! Here's Chapter 3. **

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

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_The cashier looked concerned. "Hon, what've you got under those gloves?" She repeated._

_Marcus ignored her; he thought that'd be the right, best, and safest option. "Bye," he said, rather quickly, and tried to walk away. _

_Big mistake._

_The cashier, whom he considered too nosy for his own good, grabbed the glove._

_And she revealed his arm._

_The wrong one._

Marcus was horrified. He had gone through so much trouble to keep it concealed, to keep it hidden away from this light, cheerful world, and this cashier had ruined it all.

The cashier was dumbstruck, her cherry-red lips open and a sprig of curly brown hair dangling in front of her face. She kept on trying to move her mouth, but she couldn't say anything.

_She looks like a ridiculous, too-much-makeup-kind-of-female goldfish. A nosy goldfish with brown hair,_ Marcus thought, grinning almost imperceptibly.

But the thought quickly vanished, and he remembered the predicament he was in. What was he going to say? What should he do? He thought grimly, _If worst comes to worst, I'll just have to dispose of her._

Something sparked, for once not his metallic structure, deep inside of him. He was feeling something he hadn't ever experienced before—a pang of… was it r_egret? _He had tried to kill his cousins/step-cousins and here he was feeling guilty just even _thinking_ about "disposing" of this cashier?

He wondered if his saws still worked. He would give her a quick and painful death as quickly and as painlessly as he possibly could with saws that cut into a person like knife into butter.

As all these thoughts were running a triathlon in his head, the cashier finally said something, eerily calmly. "Hon, why have you got a robotic arm?"

Marcus stared at her. He felt his eyes getting warmer and warmer. No! No! Not now, of all times! He couldn't let his eyes fire off uncontrollable lasers. He tried to calm himself down. The cashier hadn't made any terrible assumptions, so he would have to play it _very, very_ safe.

Slowly, his neon-green eyes returned to their normal brown.

Gradually, his metallic artificial heart built into his chest to make him seem realistic stopped pumping so hard and relaxed.

Marcus thought fast, as he still had his super smarts, and stammered, "Uh… it's a prosthetic…"*

The cashier replied, "Then you shouldn't be sparking like that! Honestly, the quality of robotic arms that a doctor prescribes these days. Atrocious!"

Marcus breathed out a sigh of relief. He would simply walk out the door and the cashier would hopefully leave him alone.

Turning around, he heard the bell jingle as he exited. He could almost smile. He had done it! He had exposed his secret and gotten away with it!

But then something happened, something else that he would curse for the rest of his three months that were left in his short lifespan.

That something happened, then.

Something big.

Something bad.

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**Ha-ha! I'm so evil. I love cliffhangers! If I get 24 reviews (my favorite number) I will update and tell you what that "big bad thing that happened" is in the next, hopefully much longer and much more exciting, chapter, okay? And please, if you can just type I LOVE IT or I LIKE IT or just a simple UPDATE, that will fuel me to put up Chapter 4!  
**

**Footnote: The idea of the prosthetic limb comes from BTRlover1122, whom I would like to give a shout-out to for that excellent idea. I had already planned out what Marcus was going to do (I'm not telling you directly, but see if you can find out by re-reading his mental thoughts before he says it was a prosthetic limb) but her idea was much, much better! So thanks to her and check out all of her great stories!**

**(I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors.)**


	4. Painful Encounter

**Hey y'all! (That's probably my catchphrase from now on.) I am here with a new chapter of Marcus' Childhood because I reached my goal! Thanks to everybody who has reviewed, followed, and added this to their favorites and subscribed. I would like to give out special shout-outs for the following:**

**MoonlitShadowsoftheHumanSoul for being such a faithful reviewer (Go check out all 36 of her stories)  
BTRlover1122 for being supportive (She's got some awesome stories at the moment)  
daphrose for being encouraging (Her stories are so good you've probably read all of them by now)  
EmotionalDreamer101 for sticking with the story the entire time  
And, SamiBrit14 for being the 1st reviewer ;-)**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

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_But then something happened, something else that he would curse for the rest of his three months that were left in his short lifespan._

_That something happened, then._

_Something big._

_Something bad._

Marcus had bumped into somebody while deep in thought, and that somebody was now lying on the hard pavement, legs sprawled out and arms askew. Ugh! The last thing Marcus wanted to do was draw attention to himself. He bent over the person. "Are you all right?" he asked, softly.

Suddenly, the person's head turned, and when the hair was pushed out of the way, Marcus couldn't believe the face he saw. It took his breath away, and for a moment, he rubbed his eyes with his eerily smooth palms and wondered if he was hallucinating from the close encounter with that nosy cashier.

_Chase Davenport, the boy he'd tried to kill._

Marcus backed away slowly, but Chase groaned, and, as he was bionic, recovered from the fall rather quickly. He picked himself up and brushed off, looking around, wondering who knocked into him.

His head craned around, and then, he saw Marcus standing only a few foot off, not having backed off of the scene fast enough.

Marcus' eyes widened, and he knew he was in deep trouble. He started to back away once more, trying to blend in with the shadows. But it was just simply too late. Chase had an angry look on his face, and was marching towards him at an impossible speed almost to match Bree's.

He stuck his face into Marcus' and said, "What are you doing here? I thought you were dead. I guess falling rocks weren't enough to kill you!" He sounded angry, and Marcus knew very well why.

Marcus tried to avoid eye contact with the genius. "Well, I'm not dead."

Chase sneered. "I can see that," he said coldly. "Why are you even here? You _do_ know you won't survive much longer, right?"

Marcus felt a twinge of guilt when he saw how much damage he had done to Chase. He deserved all of these harsh words. It was not the words themselves that stung; it was how they were said.

Marcus abruptly started walking away, saying, "I have to go."

Chase wouldn't let Marcus go, apparently, without a fight. "Go where? You creator is out there somewhere; he abandoned you, for heaven's sakes!"

Marcus stared at him for a long time, sending a mixed message of emotions with his deep, soulless eyes.

Chase stopped. "You weren't thinking _we_ would take you in, were you? Because we never would. Not after what you did to us."

Marcus sounded desperate, almost pleading. "Look, I'm sorry for what I did. I know I backed the wrong person and you have to forgive me! I know what I did was wrong. I know it all."

He sounded so ashamed that Chase, for just a split second, almost believed him. But nonetheless, he was Chase, a fighter and determined for… well, what?

"You aren't sorry. You never will be. You're just an android; you don't have feelings."

Marcus stumbled back like the words had been thrown at him like a knife. _You're just an android; you don't have feelings._ It replayed itself, over and over, in his head.

But Chase wasn't done yet. "If Adam were here, you know what he would do? Nothing. He'd rip your head off and throw it to the dogs. If Bree were here, she whip you around and mash you all up until you resemble mashed potatoes."

Marcus looked away. The pain was too great. He knew, in his grief, that he had done everything wrong. He had done it because Douglas was the only person he could ever rely on, and now what? His closest ally had abandoned him for personal vendetta. It hurt, it really hurt.

Chase was looking at him now. "What's wrong, Marcus? Speechless?"

Marcus said quietly, "Just go away. I've had enough today."

Chase followed him, taunting, "Who's so big and strong and powerful now?"

Marcus kept on walking faster. It _was_ a good thing that Bree wasn't here, or else she'd keep up with him to the point where he'd get creeped out.

But Chase kept up with him, annoying gnat that he was. "Maybe you should stand in the corner and think about what you've done, for, oh, MAYBE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!"

Marcus yelled, all of the bottle emotions spewing out, "I get it, Chase, okay? I know that I hurt you and your family and I almost killed Leo twice! I know it all! And I'm SORRY for that, I really am! But you don't believe me, and I guess you never will! And I probably deserve all of those taunts for what I did but you don't have to make it worse! I'm wallowing in self-pity and sadness because of a wasted childhood and now you're just magnifying the bad parts of my stupid, sixteen-year lifespan!"

Chase stopped and stared, surprised.

Marcus walked away again, the anger and fight escaping from him, but found that he was stopping. He tried to keep on walking, but he couldn't. Something was wrong. Why wasn't he walking?

He dug his heels into the pavement, but some invisible force kept on dragging him backwards, until he was staring up at Chase's face. "You didn't really think I was going to let you go, did you?"

Oh, right. Marcus cursed internally—he'd forgotten that Chase was bionic. He breathed deeply, knowing that, although he had more abilities, his system was stressed out and wouldn't be working to the best of its ability. He doubted he still had strength or speed. Did he still have his other abilities? He wasn't sure. What he did know, though, was that he was _not_ in a good position. _At all._

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**Mm… should I leave you at a cliffhanger? Nah, let's teleport somewhere else since I'm the author and this is my story.**

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_Marcus was in a soft, warm place, and he was staring up at the clouds, soft, cottony clouds. They embraced his cold, smooth skin, and whispered things to him that enticed him to join them, with sugary-sweet voices that could melt the coldest heart._

_He reached out to them, but every time he thought he held them in his grasp, they slipped out of his fingers, saying something Marcus couldn't quite make out. What were they saying?_

"_If only… if only… if only…"_

_Marcus strained his super-hearing ears to hear their fading voices._

"_If only you had… if only you had…"_

_Just a little more—_

"_If only you had helped the right side, you could be here, safe and secure. All day, all night. But you didn't… you didn't… you didn't…" The sweet voices faded away, and then, the clouds began growing, larger and larger, getting darker and darker in color, until they resembled smoke. Marcus realized these were symbolic clouds; his soul, his conscience._

_The newly formed cumulonimbus clouds began raining, and thundering in raspy, great tones, "And this is the life I condemn you to for your actions. This is where you shall remain for the rest of your three months; this is where you shall stay as your punishment; this is where there will be consequences…"_

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**So! There you go. I eked it out in less than half an hour; pardon the inconsistencies in... well, anything! I would like 30 reviews for Chapter 5, which _will_ have bionic ability fights or whatever you call 'em. So, review, review, review! Don't forget to check out the said authors' stories! Also, check out my other LR stories, Too Much, Thoughts of the Truth, and Bionic Ice Skating!  
**

**(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors.)**


	5. Taunts

**Hey, y'all! I'm back again with Chapter 5, which I hope you will enjoy. There are some minor uses of bionics; I'm not very good at describing fight scenes. Enjoy! Oh, and one more shout-out to XxXIamaroleplayingfangirlXxX for being such a nice reviewer :-) **

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

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"_And this is the life I condemn you to for your actions. This is where you shall remain for the rest of your three months; this is where you shall stay as your punishment; this is where there will be consequences…"_

With a start, Marcus snapped back to reality. At first, his mind was blissfully blank, but then, he remembered everything that had happened; it all came rushing back. The rocks crumbling, Chase shouting, "Marcus, look out!" He remembered the cashier and his "prosthetic" arm, running into the last person he'd ever want to see on Earth. The words, those harsh words.

Chase was looking down at him, and thinking, "What have you got in mind, now? Were you planning to find your _creator_ and crawl after him like a lost puppy and then try to infiltrate our household again and kill us in the dead of the night?"

Marcus squeezed his dark eyes shut. "I would never do that, Chase."

Chase scowled. "Why should I believe you after you lied right to my face? To _our_ faces? Leo was right all along, and we never believed him. So give me just _one good reason_ as to why I should believe you at all now!"

Marcus looked at his hands. It was something he seemed to be doing a lot by now. He guessed that he did it because, well… why _did_ he do it? It almost seemed as if he did it subconsciously…

But that wasn't what was supposed to be on his mind now. He needed to find shelter to keep safe and warm for the remaining three months and also to escape the angry bionic genius standing over him. Was he really more powerful than him? He _had_ been, but now… he was broken. A broken "toy," a broken machine, a broken shell of an android boy.

So instead, he asked a question that would buy him some time.

"Where are your siblings? Davenport?"

This caught Chase off guard, but not for long. He folded his arms. "Why do you care?"

Marcus probed for an answer. Chase really was smart. "Why do you think?"

Chase snapped, "I think I know why you care. You're stalling. Why are you stalling? Did you really think that it would work? I'm the smartest _human_ on earth. I can see through any lie. _And I mean ANY lie._" He said the last sentence in a menacing whisper, which made Marcus shiver inwardly, not that he'd ever admit it. And the part where he emphasized "human" shriveled up Marcus' "soul" to the point where Marcus would have liked to die, in shame and embarrassment.

Marcus glanced at Chase, and then looked away at the ground. He finally said quietly, "I'll go. I see I'm only aggravating you." He began to walk away.

Chase grabbed Marcus molecular-kinetically* and pulled him back by his elbow and said, "What will happen if I let you go? I can't think to let that happen."

Marcus screamed inside his head. What was wrong with Chase? Couldn't he see that he was simply a broken android with no family, no heart, and no friends? He wasn't going to wreck a city in the mental and physical state he was in now. "Does it look like I'm going to do damage to anything?" He glared at Chase, feeling like he could set Chase on fire. Which, in fact, he could, but since he was sparking so badly, it would most likely malfunction.

Chase molecular-kinetically gripped Marcus even harder; he felt like his elbow was choking. "You know, with you, I can never tell," he answered coldly. "And in the last moments of your pitiful little life you can reflect on all you've done and see that you deserve all I'm going to serve you." With that, he released Marcus, and, since the telekinetic grip was all that was holding Marcus up, he fell. Hard.

He saw spots in his vision as his head clanged to the ground; however, he didn't feel any pain. Just mental pain. Pain that he could never repent for his wrongful actions.

Chase began shoving Marcus with his molecular kinesis farther and farther back until he backed up against a brick wall. Marcus began to feel afraid. There was no one around to see him die. At least he would die, _hopefully,_ quick and painfully. But knowing Chase, anyone who hurt his family deserved to die slowly, very painfully, writhing in the most excruciating form of agony.

Chase taunted Marcus, "It seemed two months ago you would have easily killed me. What's wrong, _Marcus?_ Afraid of a pitiful little fifteen-year-old?"

Marcus glared at Chase, but he didn't make any move to kill him on the spot.

Chase continued, "I bet you're thinking about a slow and painful death, aren't you?" He held his hands out and two metal stop signs flew into them.

_He must have the magnetism app, _Marcus thought. He may have been broken, but he wasn't dumb. He knew the difference between the magnetism app and molecular kinesis.

"A slow and painful death, is that what you wish for? Not going to happen, not now, not ever." Chase raised the stop signs over his head and brought them crashing down on Marcus. Marcus felt his wires zap and his right arm spark so badly a stray wire struck him in his hollow, lifeless eyes. It didn't hurt, no, but it was a rude awakening to Marcus. Was he just going to let Chase beat the life out of him while he sat moaning and groaning accepting his fate? He could choose his fate any way he wanted, and he knew that dying at the hands of his hated cousins was an sad, dishonorable way to die, in his point of view.

Chase was forming a plasma ball and was ready to hurl it when that something inside of Marcus snapped. His eyes briefly turned green before the deadly lasers fired their way towards Chase and pushed him backwards several yards. But, as he was bionic, he recovered quickly and stood up, facing Marcus, his arms in a fighting stance, knees bent, shoulders locked.

"Is that the best you've got, android?" He circled Marcus and Marcus felt the same way he had back at the underground lab during the bionic showdown—a mouse being watched by a hawk. He wouldn't have ever told anyone, but he had felt scared when they'd surrounded him.

And in a way, he knew that it was the wrong thing to do. And in a way, he had exacted his revenge on Douglas.

When the remote had fallen from the balcony/bridge, when the brothers had stared at that, frozen in time, he had seen it. He had stared at it, and he could have sped over and grabbed it that very second and handed it to Douglas, rendering Donald powerless. He could have ended it all, right there and then, leaving him and Douglas successful, but…

He hadn't.

He didn't.

And for a very good reason.

And that, maybe, was his dying thought. He had done something, no matter how insignificant the Davenport-Dooleys may deem it. He had done something to avenge his conscience.

But it wasn't. It wasn't his last thought.

Just as Chase was ready to kill him with a plasma ball, glowing and flickering and much more dangerous than a simple force field, he heard a voice. A clear, distinct voice that relieved Marcus of all his pain. That voice would save him from his death. It was the voice that would stop Chase from killing him, penniless.

"Stop, Chase!" The voice yelled, making Chase stop for a split second and wince.

Marcus looked up at the sound of that welcome voice, and saw feet. His sore eyes followed it up, and up, until he saw his savior. And then he smiled.

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**Cliffhanger time! Ooh, it feels so good to write those. Can you guys guess who the "savior" is? Type your guess in the review box!  
**

**I promise I will update IF, and only IF, I get 40 reviews. 5 reviews, people, it's not that hard! And if you exceed expectations, well... I'll let the review requirement on my other story Thoughts of the Truth slide for the epilogue and sequel! So review, review, review!**

**Footnote #1: One of my friends on this site told me that telekinesis and molecular kinesis were slightly different, so instead of telekinetically I put molecular-kinetically. I know it sounds awkward, but I'd like to be exact.**

**(I apologize for any grammatical/spelling errors.)**


	6. Away

**Hey, y'all! Because I had typed Chapter 6 ahead of time, and we reached the amount of reviews (and more!) that I required, I give you Chapter 6 twenty-four hours later! Woo-hoo! This chapter has got minor fight scenes, so I hope that you enjoy! Shout-out to Vampire girl(a guest), who touched my heart with saying, "Without your stories my story life is incomplete." Isn't that nice? Also shout-outs to amichele and BTRlover1122 for being very complimentary reviewers! Enjoy!  
**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

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_Just as Chase was ready to kill him with a plasma ball, glowing and flickering and much more dangerous than a simple force field, he heard a voice. A clear, distinct voice that relieved Marcus of all his pain. That voice would save him from his death. It was the voice that would stop Chase from killing him, penniless. _

"_Stop, Chase!" The voice yelled, making Chase stop for a split second and wince._

_Marcus looked up at the sound of that welcome voice, and saw feet. His sore eyes followed it up, and up, until he saw his savior. And then he smiled._

Standing over him was his creator/fatherly figure, whom he thought didn't care about him. _He might still not. He may just want to scare Chase off so he can yell at me for letting them go. That must be it. He's never cared about me before._ _And he never, ever, will._

Chase pivoted around, and his hazel eyes narrowed when he saw Douglas. "What do you want, Douglas?" He resumed his fighting stance.

Douglas raised his hands in surrender to show he had no weapons. _He's afraid of Chase,_ Marcus thought. _He knows very well that Chase could kill him at the slightest movement of his hands._

_His hands,_ he continued thinking. _He's got human hands. I don't._

Argh! He was thinking about his palms again. Why did he do that? He still didn't know.

_Why wasn't he afraid of me? I could have killed him just by looking at him. I was more powerful than all three of my cousins. He could have been dead by my third birthday._

_But he could have killed _me._ He had complete control of me. If he wanted, he could have shut me down while I was recharging. He could have twisted me into any shape he wanted, and I would be helpless to stop him._

_Helpless._

Marcus' thoughts evaporated when he saw two more figures, blurry from the direct hit to his eye, walk out from behind Douglas. He strained to make them out. Who were those people…kids…? He would have to use his bionics to zoom in, no matter how much of a headache they gave him.

Several windows popped up in his vision, asking him if he would like to zoom in or zoom out, then saying further, "System overload. Are you sure you would like to continue?"

Marcus paused. And then he laughed inside. Why would he pause when he just knew he would die anyway? What was the point? He might as well see who his assassins were while he was still alive.

_Yes,_ he replied to the computer in his head. Immediately, his vision cleared and he saw who the two people were.

_Adam and Bree._

This time, Marcus laughed bitterly, so everyone could hear. What luck—of course, Chase's siblings, who never went anywhere without each other.

They all stared at him as if he was crazy, until Adam, goofy, dumb Adam, asked, "Why are you laughing when you're about to die?" But it wasn't a lighthearted, jokey tone of voice. It was a menacing, icy voice that Marcus had never heard before.

Marcus narrowed his eyes, and said, "I'm thinking about this sardonic moment. Who would have known that this is how it would all end? You know, to think that how, we've reversed roles."

Bree stared at him hostilely. "The only reason Chase isn't killing you know is because of _him._" She jerked her thumb towards Douglas; glaring at him, hate emanating like a bright, white, visible light.

Douglas folded his leather-encased arms, but he didn't say anything. He stared straight at Marcus. _Help me out here;_ he seemed to be saying with his eyes. _They haven't killed me yet because I'm their father. But they _will_ if you don't help me._

Marcus continued, "Chase can do his best to kill me. Even though I've got no family now," he paused and looked over at Douglas, who seemed nonchalant about the statement, "I'm still more powerful than all of you."

Chase smirked. "What happened to the weak, defenseless, android that I was almost killing earlier? Does wittle Marcus have his confidence back?" He said in a baby tone.

"Yes," Marcus answered in such a chilling tone that all four of them stepped back. He brought his hands, which had been hidden behind his back, in front of them. "Yes, I have." The blue electricity/lightning he'd been forming while they'd been taunting him leaped out of his hands and attached itself, split three ways, to Adam, Bree, and Chase, rendering them unconscious and knocking them out for the next half-hour, since they were bionic and recovered quickly, unfortunately.

Just like the showdown, he brushed his hands together and put them on his hips. "What do you want, _Douglas?_" He spat the name out like a piece of gristle.

Douglas stared at Marcus' sparking right arm, sparking even more now that it had come in direct contact with manipulated lightning.

Marcus hid it behind his back. "I said, what do you want?"

Douglas evaded the question really very smoothly, considering he had just seen Marcus take down Adam, Bree, and Chase in the state he was in and was evidently shocked. "I could fix that for you, you know," he said, nodding his head at the violently sparking arm.

Marcus slowly revealed it again, and said maliciously, "It's a bit too late for that _now,_ don't you think?" He let his eyes turn green just to scare Douglas for a bit into answering the question that made Douglas squirm so uncomfortably. For the first time in forever*, in this game of cat and mouse, for once, _he_, Marcus, was the cat, and Douglas was the pinned mouse. And he enjoyed that feeling. Maybe too much…

Douglas sighed, a very unnecessary sigh, really, and said at last, "I need you to come with me because I need your help."

Marcus suspiciously stated, slowly, "Is this a trap? Because I'm not falling into a trap that I was held in for _fifteen years!_ All you did was put me down and tell me I wasn't good enough, and I'm sick of it! I've had enough! I'm not going to work for you, _Douglas,_ anymore than Adam, Bree, or Chase would. I'm tired of being a weapon that you rely on for your safety!"

Douglas gaped, and then said, "I don't need you for safety! I can protect myself—"

"No," Marcus said flatly. "You can't. Without me, Adam, Bree, and Chase would have destroyed you without a second thought." With that, he turned on his heel and began walking away, ironically, it seemed, for the fourth time today.

Douglas yelled, "You can't just walk away from me like that! I was the one who raised you. I was the one who sheltered you. I was the one who shaped you to become the powerful weap—android you are now!"

Marcus raised his infamously high eyebrow, and said, "Really? Well, then I'm showing my ingratitude to you now for all of the _wonderful_ things you taught me when I was a child."

Douglas reached into his brown leather jacket and said, "I wouldn't walk away, Marcus! Because I have this!" He proudly flourished a gun.

Without look back, Marcus waved his hand and the stun gun Douglas was holding flew several yards away, clattering and clanging on impact.

"No," Marcus said, smiling deliciously. "You _had_ that."*

Douglas reached over into a nearby unlocked car, presumably his, and retrieved a lightning gun. "Oh yeah? Well I've got this virtually indestructible weapon _right here!"_

Marcus fired two lasers at the gun and it seemingly vanished, and then continued walking away, away from Douglas, away from the still bodies of Adam, Bree, and Chase, away, it seemed, from everything that had haunted him, pained him, tortured him.

Away.

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**So how did you like it? Tell me by reviewing! Oh, and a question: Was who appeared/the savior expected or was it a surprise? It was the classic "Douglas" appearance, but I made all of them appear, since a tiny tiny twist right there, yes? Anyway, for Chapter 7 I would like five more reviews! So please review, review, review if you want the next chapter! And because I'm nice I only left you guys on a SLIGHT cliffhanger :-)**

**Don't forget to check out my other LR stories, Thoughts of the Truth, Bionic Ice Skating, and Too Much!**

**Footnote #1: For you Frozen fans, you understand what that means, right?  
**

**Footnote #2: I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself with that scene. It was too much fun writing it :-D**

**(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors.)**


	7. Wrong Answer

**Hey, y'all! So! Chapter 7 here; I hope you enjoy it-it's mostly the previous chapter semi-flashback (if you can really call it that). I am updating once again so soon because I got a LOT of reviews (for this story, at least)! So please, continue doing so!  
**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

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_Douglas sighed, a very unnecessary sigh, really, and said at last, "I need you to come with me because I need your help."_

_Marcus suspiciously stated, slowly, "Is this a trap? Because I'm not falling into a trap that I was held in for fifteen years! All you did was put me down and tell me I wasn't good enough, and I'm sick of it! I've had enough! I'm not going to work for you, Douglas, anymore than Adam, Bree, or Chase would. I'm tired of being a weapon that you rely on for your safety!"_

_Douglas gaped, and then said, "I don't need you for safety! I can protect myself—" _

"_No," Marcus said flatly. "You can't. Without me, Adam, Bree, and Chase would have destroyed you without a second thought." With that, he turned on his heel and began walking away, ironically, it seemed, for the fourth time today._

_Douglas yelled, "You can't just walk away from me like that! I was the one who raised you. I was the one who sheltered you. I was the one who shaped you to become the powerful weap—android you are now!"_

_Marcus raised his infamously high eyebrow, and said, "Really? Well, then I'm showing my ingratitude to you now for all of the wonderful things you taught me when I was a child." _

_Douglas reached into his brown leather jacket and said, "I wouldn't walk away, Marcus! Because I have this!" He proudly flourished a gun._

_Without look back, Marcus waved his hand and the stun gun Douglas was holding flew several yards away, clattering and clanging on impact._

"_No," Marcus said, smiling deliciously. "You had that."_

_Douglas reached over into a nearby unlocked car, presumably his, and retrieved a lightning gun. "Oh yeah? Well I've got this virtually indestructible weapon right here!"_

_Marcus fired two lasers at the gun and it seemingly vanished, and then continued walking away, away from Douglas, away from the still bodies of Adam, Bree, and Chase, away, it seemed, from everything that had haunted him, pained him, tortured him._

_Away._

Marcus was walking down an alley, trashed with graffiti screaming on the walls. His hands, one human looking and one robotic, metallic, and sparking, were both hanging limply at his sides.

He toyed with a loose wire until it zapped his human-hand, and then let it fall—and that was when he heard footsteps.

He looked up, startled, and saw a boy slightly older than him, with a sneer that could curdle dairy* and brown, crooked teeth, stained with tobacco juice.

"Hey," said the kid. "Got any money?"

Marcus had shoved his hand behind his back, hopefully before the kid had seen, and said, "Nope."

The kid, seemingly innocent, suddenly whistled, and three other kids, similar in appearance, surrounded him in the alley.

"_That,_" the kid sneered, "_was the wrong answer." _

Marcus' eyes traveled from the original kid, seemingly the leader, to the one standing next to him, who had a rat's face, and then to the third one, with purple streaks in his hair, and then the fourth one, who was big, mean, and scary. The fourth one kept slamming his right meaty fist into the palm of his left hand. With each slam, the alley seemed to get darker and darker.

"Get him!" The first kid, dubbed "Tobacco," leaped at Marcus, and Marcus, with his quick, robotic reflexes, dodged, leaving Tobacco to fall down, chin-first.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Marcus smiled. The second one, nicknamed, "Ratty," charged forward with two fists, and landed a powerful uppercut to Marcus, who stumbled back but recovered so quickly Ratty was caught unprepared as Marcus kicked him in the groin. Ratty was thrown backwards and lay there, unmoving.

There were only two left to fight, "Purple Streaks" and "Meaty." Streaks and Meaty both advanced slowly on Marcus, thinking that he was caught.

Oh, no. Far from that.

Marcus lifted his palms up, and said, "If I were you I'd think _twice_ about touching me."

Meaty grunted. "Why should we? It's two against one."

Streaks smiled greasily. "That's _totally fair,_ isn't it?" He punched Meaty in the arm playfully, and Meaty, in return, smacked Streaks on the head. "Stop it," he growled.

Marcus smiled. "Because this is a warning shot." He activated his lasers and they hit a corner of a building, causing a gigantic hole to appear, bricks crumbling and falling forward, red dust filling the air. He smirked, enjoying the fearful looks on Streaks' and Meaty's faces.

Meaty, suddenly afraid, stopped smacking his fist into his palm. "H-how did you do that?"

Streaks' eyes were wide with fear, and said, "Run!" Streaks and Meaty ran, the cowards they were, leaving behind the ringleader, Tobacco, and the weasel-resembling one, Ratty.

Marcus stepped over to them both, and said, "Have fun, boys," and then he shocked them with a green electrical blast, which would put them in a coma, maybe even cause them to become brain-dead. He couldn't risk anything. He would catch up with Meaty and Streaks later.

Yes, the cold, cruel Marcus was back, the sentimental, soft Marcus was gone. He would do what he wanted to do, and _no one_ could get in his way.

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**So! How did you like it? I'm so, so sorry that it was shorter than normal because the bulk of it was the previous part just to refresh your memories, but I hope the semi-good fight scenes made up for it. So can anyone predict Marcus' thoughts? Tell me what you think he'll do next in the review box-review, review, review! I want five more reviews for Chapter 8!  
**

**Did you like the names? I had fun comin' up with nicknames :-0**

**Footnote #1: If anyone can guess where that line comes from, they get a shout-out. I want the entire bibliography of it-what/where it came from, who said it, where it was said, and what song it was in. (There's a big hint for ya right there, y'all!)**

**(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors.)**


	8. Plans

**Hey, y'all! Wow, 54 reviews! I'm pleased, but I'm also disappointed compared to some other stories... so please, if you have a keyboard, review! Shout-out to daphrose for figuring out where that line "my sneer could curdle dairy" came from. I'm disappointed in y'all; she was the only one to answer that question! Well... ya can't have everything.  
**

**But there's a more serious matter I would like to address for Chapter 8. Please read this: I received a rude, if not _very_ rude guest review from someone named "KickandBelli." I quote: "This is boring. And it's an old story idea. Why do people read this kind of stuff? It's OBVIOUS that Marcus died, or else Disney XD would have brought him back a LONG time ago. I just plain think it's dumb, so, yeah, work on your author's skills." That really stung. I know not everyone will review nicely, but that's almost flaming, and it's nothing close to constructive criticism. So please, if you have something nice to say, go ahead! If there's something wrong with the story, please phrase it in a constructive criticism structure. But _do not flame._ Please.**

**Anyway, without further ado, Chapter 8!**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

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_Yes, the cold, cruel Marcus was back, the sentimental, soft Marcus was gone. He would do what he wanted to do, and no one could get in his way._

Marcus flexed his right hand, so different from when he had two years ago. Then, it had been pale, and perfect, and whole. He had convinced himself it was actually a real human hand. Now—now it was in a terrible state and it made a sort of whirring, clicking noise whenever he made the slightest movement with that arm.

But how was he going to hide it? It was April, now, and eventually he would have to take off his gloves—summer would be coming soon, and it would be too hot to wear gloves. And he couldn't coop himself up for the remainder of his life. He wanted to enjoy what it felt like to just _live,_ before he shut down. Before he died.

And he didn't _know_ what he was going to do with his life. He didn't want to become a scared, broken, emotional fifteen-year-old kid. But his encounter with Chase—_and_ Adam, Bree, and Douglas—made him realize that doing things that caused death and destruction, well—he wasn't cut out for it full time.

But part-time…

He smiled, faintly. Part-time, he could do.

* * *

Adam, Bree, and Chase groaned. All they could remember were seeing Marcus cower, his back pressed against the hard brick wall, enjoying his defeat, when suddenly, they'd been knocked out, and he had smiled and said something. What had he said? Even Chase, the only one with a perfect memory, couldn't remember…

"_Even though I've got no family now, I'm still more powerful than all of you."_

That menacing statement said coldly and with no emotion in Marcus' gravelly voice, had made them all shiver down to their core. It's what he had said before Chase had almost fallen to his death and be chopped up by a meat grinder, it's what he had said when Adam had met his match and become severely wounded, it's what he had said when Bree had suddenly become "slow," where she suddenly felt a break in her confidence.

It's what he had said then.

And it's what he had said now.

Chase was the first one to regain consciousness, followed closely by Adam, and then Bree.

He propped himself up and leaned on elbow. "Douglas," he gasped. "Douglas was there. He stopped me from letting Marcus die. He let him get away."

Bree had thought Chase would have said the last sentence with anger, but his voice was flat, as if too shocked to remember what had happened in the past hour. "It's not your fault, Chase. We all know by now that Marcus _is_ more powerful than us. When I look back on the showdown, it wasn't us who defeated him. We never got a shot in. It was the rocks—due to Adam's blast-wave—but even so, that would have only ever been temporary."

Chase nodded. "We need to figure out what we're going to do if we ever encounter Marcus again."

Adam was staring off into space.

Bree nudged him. "Adam!" she shouted. "What are you doing?" She knocked on the side of his head with her knuckles for effect, but he didn't even turn her head.

He looked at her. "Oh, hi, Bree! How are you doing today? I'd like a decaf with skim milk, hold the sugar."

Bree sighed. "Sounds like he's back to normal," she said to Chase. Turning towards Adam, she emphasized, "Adam! Snap out of it! We are _not_ at a café and I am _not_ a waitress that is about to take your, uh, coffee order!"

Adam grinned. "I know. I just wanted to see your reaction."

Bree groaned and crossed her arms. "Does anyone know what to do now? Chase?"

Chase ran his hands through his hair, a sign Bree recognized as nervousness. "Well, first of all, we should tell Mr. Davenport. He needs to know that Marcus is back and out and about."

Adam nodded, seriously. "What about Douglas? Where is he now?"

Chase put his right finger to his temple and his eye glowed a bright blue as he scanned the area. "The scan says he's not in a ten-mile range within us. Coward that he is, he most likely fled."

"One question," Bree said, smirking. "How do you think Leo is going to take this?"

Adam raised his hand. "Ooh! Ooh! I know that answer to that!"

Bree rolled her eyes and sighed once more, exasperated. "You don't have to raise your hand, Adam! We're not in school!"

Adam put his hand down and pouted, but then got over it and said, "He'll faint."

Chase chuckled. "That's for sure." Then his grin vanished. "But we're going to need to think this through seriously. Marcus seems to have gotten his confidence back, although he was weak and afraid when it was just he and I. So he's a powerhouse."

Bree stated, "So your point is…?"

Chase responded, grimly, "In the next three months, we are going to be directed on a _lot _of missions trying to track him down and stop him."

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**Should I continue? Nah, that's a good ending right there. I know it's more than a bit short, but I want to leave you like that so I can get more reviews. I want five more reviews for Chapter 9! So please, review, review, review!**

**Because Chapter 9 is a filler, Chapter 10 is over 2,000 words and includes a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR fight scene! But to get there first, we need to get to Chapter 9, and to get there, we need to get five reviews on this chapter! So review!**

**And, KickandBelli, if you're reading this, understand that your rude review was not appreciated. Please stop being so inconsiderate. How would you like it if you woke up to see someone flaming on your hard-worked-on story? And, also, if you thought that it was so bad, why did you read all the way up to the last chapter? And why did you click on it if you were biased against "what if [insert character] didn't die?" Thank you for your time and do answer if you continued reading this awful, boring story.  
**

**(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors.)**


	9. The Call

**Hey, y'all! How are y'all doing? I'm doing just awful, thank you for asking. I will not be nice now and I will not put any sugar in my comments to KickandBelli. I quote: "Gee, thanks for deleting my review. And Vampire Girl, I read your review. I am NOT jealous and I honestly think that this story stinks-about EVERYTHING! Too bad I can't report this. Meh mesh meh, I bet that MAJOR fight scene is boring, blah blah blah. And I am NOT flaming-I'm just telling you what you need to know-this fucking story is stupid. I read up to the last chapter because I was hoping it would get better-you should totally appreciate that I simply took time to read this dumb story-you have no idea who I am, but if you do figure out, I'm famous. Like, really famous. So be grateful that I'm even just reviewing!"**

**You need to stop. You are being extremely rude in reviewing, and to be frank, I don't care if you're Justin Bieber or Selena Gomez. You are just like everyone else no matter how much people idolize you, and the rules apply to you, too-no flaming; constructive criticism is welcome. I apologize to polite reviewers if I'm giving KickandBelli a hard time, but this story means almost the world to me and I am upset if someone flames that discourteously on this story. I will from now on be moderating your reviews, so good luck trying to get your friends to join in on flaming this story. **

**I would like to thank Vampire girl for sticking up for me, as well as MoonlitShadowsoftheHumanSoul (you have spirit, my friend), XxXIamaroleplayingfangirlXxX, Green Bean 8 (Guest) and daphrose. Thank you all for being so loyal to this story! And I'm so sorry for the ranting A/N.  
**

**Anyways, on a more positive note, I'm back with yet another chapter :-) This will be a slight filler chapter, but it's vital to the next, awesome, chapter with bionic fights! So, enjoy!  
**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

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_Bree stated, "So your point is…?"_

_Chase responded, grimly, "In the next three months, we are going to be directed on a lot of missions trying to track him down and stop him."_

Adam, Bree, and Chase picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and each of them stood there, silent, until Chase said, "I'm going to call Mr. Davenport."

Once again, he put his right finger to his temple and said, "Activating cell service." There was one beep, and then he continued, "Connect to Donald Davenport." The selected number flashed, and then he heard the ringtone, until Davenport picked it up.

"_Chase?"_ Donald said, relief in his voice. "Where have you been? I sent Adam and Bree to find you by tracking down your coordinates after you didn't come home! Four hours, Chase! You were supposed to be home from school _four hours ago!"_

By the time Davenport was done he was shouting, and Chase winced, as, unlike a manual cellphone, he couldn't pull it away from his ear—it was all in his head.

"Look," Chase said quietly so as not to draw unwanted attention from bystanders thinking that he was talking to himself and being crazy, "Adam and Bree are with me, safe and sound, yes, yes, no, of course not!" He finished, anticipating the next questions Donald would ask. He was, in fact, dead on with each of the questions.

Not hearing the final answers, Donald asked, "So you're safe? Did something so significant happen you had to miss training? Did you reveal your bionic secret?"

Chase stood there, silent, waiting for the recognition to kick in.

"Ohhhh," Donald said, dragging the "oh" out. "Never mind."

Chase rolled his eyes and mouthed to Adam and Bree, _"This guy," _incredulously. He then resumed talking. "Look—here's what happened! I was coming home from school when someone bumped into me—"

Donald sounded panicked. "Are you okay? It must be serious if someone bumping into you delayed you for four hours!"

Chase grumbled, "You didn't let me finish!" A group of women pushing baby strollers looked over at him, alarmed that he seemed to be yelling at himself while putting a finger to his forehead. He saw one of the mothers whisper and nudge to one another, "Is the poor thing alright or does he need mental help?"

Chase sent a brief but _very _embarrassed smile towards the mothers, who in return edged away from him as if he was a rabid dog, and then whispered to Donald, "Hold on for a moment." He then took his finger away from his temple and said to Adam and Bree, "First of all, I_ need to find a place to talk where people don't look at me like I'm bonkers!"_

Adam smiled. "I am enjoying this way too much!" He licked an ice-cream cone that he seemed to have acquired from an ice-cream truck while Chase had been talking to Davenport. "What? While you're talking on the phone I can't get ice-cream?"

Chase glared at him.

Adam replied, oblivious to the fact that Chase was glaring at him furiously, "It's prickly pear and strawberry!* I've never tried it before." He slurped some more happily before continuing, "Do you want to try?" He held out the cone to Chase.

Chase opened his mouth, most likely to say something with a cutting edge, but Bree cut in before they began to fight too severely. "Chase, Adam—I can speed you to some abandoned warehouse where we can talk in peace."

Chase began, "Sounds good, but—"

Bree looked around very, very quickly, making sure no one was watching, and then grabbed Adam with her left arm and Chase with her right arm and zoomed off, depositing them three seconds later in a warehouse that was quiet. In fact, it was almost _too_ quiet. And that was never a good thing.

Obliviously, Chase looked around. "Okay, I think we have some privacy here." He then resumed his call. "Okay, Mr. Davenport—Mr. Davenport? Um, are you there?"

Donald, who had been watching his YouTube channel of the animated version of his book, "How To Make A Billion Dollars," fumbled around with the tracker COM set* before saying, "Yes! Yes! I'm here!"

Chase sighed. "Okay, so you won't _ever_ believe who bumped into me."

Davenport waited with bated breath. "Douglas?"

Chase said, "Even worse. Marcus _and_ Douglas."

* * *

Marcus watched from the roof beams of the abandoned warehouse—he had tracked them through their GPS signals and then followed them using his super-speed. And then, he'd used his agility to stick to the walls, and was now watching them, smiling—and it wasn't a good one.

_They're here,_ he thought. _What are you going to do? You can't let Donald get here. He would bring his weapons and even that would be too much for you. You have to take Adam, Bree, and Chase out before he gets here._

_Done,_ he thought. _Easy._

He sprang down, unhurt as he landed behind them, and then hid behind a tower of white bricks that were faded red.

He watched as they all wheeled around. _They're on edge,_ he noted. _That's even better._

Bree called out, "Who's there?"

Marcus didn't answer. He wanted to toy with them for a bit before taking the offensive side. Surprise was _always_ the best element in fighting.

Chase called out, just like Bree, "Show yourself! We heard you. We know you're there. And we're most likely a better fighter than you."

There was a long period of quiet, it seemed, that lasted for hours, until they turned back around and began walking out the door.

Marcus fired off three rounds of lasers, one aimed close to Adam, nicking his ear, one singing Bree's left side of her hair partly, and one striking Chase on the shoe—none of them extremely harmed, but enough to let them know there _was_ someone there.

Chase wheeled around. "Adam—w-w-as that you? Please tell me that was you!"

Adam sighed good-naturedly, and smiled at Chase. "Chase! I thought you were the smart one. My lasers aren't green! They're red! And they melt things," he indicated in his rare moments of intelligence. "Those green lasers _obliterated_ things, not melted them."

Bree began to piece the facts together. "But—those lasers were green. And Adam's the only person who has the lasers ability…"

Chase finished it grimly. "And we all know who has green lasers and has abilities similar to ours."

"Marcus," they all finished together.

Marcus was done toying with them. With his eyebrow raised, he stepped out from the shadows and spread his arms out in a mock friendly gesture. "I heard my name—you called, yes?"

Bree yelped. "What are you going to do?"

Marcus smiled—such a good smile that, even to Chase, it almost seemed genuine. "Oh, don't worry, princess! I'm not going to destroy any_thing_."

They all relaxed slightly, until they heard what Marcus said next.

"But I _am_ going to harm some_one._"

* * *

**So! There you go. Cliffhanger! How'd you like it? Tell me a) how you liked it, and b) what you think will happen in the next chapter! Review, review, review, because I would like five to six more reviews for Chapter Ten, which is actually over 2,000 words, like I said in the A/N in Ch. 8, so... yeah!**

**And remember, KickandBelli, do not try anything like this again. I'm not to be trifled with. _I know my way around a computer the way you would with the back of your hand._ And just because you think you're protected because you're a guest; think again...  
**

**Footnote #1: I was at a Farmer's Market in Tucson, Arizona, when I tried this. Delicious, lemme tell you! You've GOT to try it sometime ;-)**

**Footnote #2: I think that's how you spell it... not completely sure... we'll see.**

**(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors.)**


	10. Struggle

**Hey y'all! A 3,000-word chapter coming right up! **

**Alright, I'm tired of this KickandBelli flaming to the point where I didn't want to update. But you all don't want that to happen, do you? I will not waste any more time ranting about KAB flaming; all she wants is attention. Apparently, she began flaming on daphrose's stories just because daphrose stuck up for me. One final note-shut your flapping a***, no one cares that you're famous, where you ARE or AREN'T. **

**Anyways, thank you all SO MUCH for your support! I would like to give shout-outs (for supporting me during those flames) to the following:  
**

**daphrose, for being a wonderfully _passionate_ reviewer and virtually squealing to the point where it's creeping me out  
dreamer4evera, for emphasizing to KAB that we are all human and we all have feelings  
DisneyXDGirl, for being complimentary and standing up to KAB in a way I could never do  
RazaratheFirst, for being ever so deliciously sarcastic to that no-good KAB and standing up for me to the point where it's a fault  
ilovebreedavenport, for complimenting me on my writing skills  
Vampire Girl, (thought about getting a membership? That would be cool :-D) for being a faithful reviewer and reviewing on every chapter AND forgiving me for the ranting  
Keha H8r (did you mean Ke$ha?), for being very complimentary  
BTRlover1122, for using a cuss word in a such a damn good way that it made me feel all sparkly and bubbly inside  
XxXIamaroleplayingfangirlXxX, for being excited about me updating :-)  
And to everyone else who stood up for me/liked this story!  
**

**Anyways, since shout-outs are now done, I'm back from a boring, filler Chapter 9 with an awesome, fight-filled, action-packed Chapter 10 that I promised you! Since you all reviewed a LOT, I'm giving you this now! Not very, very long, but it's certainly longer than my others. So enjoy the chapter and please review!**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

* * *

"_Oh, don't worry, princess! I'm not going to destroy anything."_

_They all relaxed slightly, until they heard what Marcus said next._

"_But I am going to harm someone."_

The three bionic teenagers slowly rounded on Marcus, who leaned against the tower of faded white bricks.

"What do you want this time, Marcus?"

"I don't want anything," he said in an emotionless, gravelly tone of voice. "I want something else entirely."

Bree said just as coldly, "You'll never get what you want. We'll make sure of that." She resumed a fighting stance.

Marcus beckoned with his good and bad arm, as if inviting them to come and join in with a fight. "Go ahead! Give it your best shot."

Chase smirked. "Gladly." He motioned, with his arm, a downward spiral, in which a loose beam above came crashing down, only to bounce right back upwards and go sailing out through the hole in the roof.

Marcus deactivated his invisible force field. "I'm not impressed."

Bree sped over to him and began jabbing him in the ribs, crotch area, and elbows with her super-fast attacks, but he dodged them with an ease that made her envious, which only fueled her to hit him even harder and faster, but to no avail.

With one fluid motion, he blocked her running into him with his arm and flung her upwards, and then threw her back at Adam and Chase, sending her tumbling into them.

They all fell down, with a comical "Oof!" before getting back up, although, Marcus noted, it took Adam, Bree, and Chase longer to recover.

Adam was silent, but Marcus poked at him. "Let's see what you can do, big boy."

Adam began drawing energy from surrounding electric sources, which then flowed into his clenched fists. He released the blast-wave, but Marcus was still standing, upright and perfectly still. _What?_

Marcus smiled. "Oh, you three just don't get it! I absorbed the blast-wave. It's a wonderful ability, being able to suck up all the energy from an attack, so good luck trying to use any elements against me!"

Adam charged towards Marcus, with his head down like a bull's, and sent Marcus ramming into the wall, but he shoved his hand out and caught Adam molecular-kinetically by the collar, keeping him hovering three feet off the ground, just _barely_ out of kicking range.

Marcus laughed. "Anyone up for a piñata crashing?" He focused, as hard as he could, to get the saws to pop out, and to his surprise, as well as everyone else's, they did.

"Time to cut it open!" He toyed with Adam by bringing it towards his torso very slowly, while Chase and Bree were still with shock with what Marcus was about to do.

But one of the two did make a move. Bree sped towards Marcus and pushed him down, causing his focus on activating the saws dissipate, and they disappeared. Chase fought fire with fire, or, in this case, molecular-kinesis with molecular-kinesis. He cupped his hand around Adam's "scruff" and tried yanking it towards him.

Unfortunately, Marcus' focus on the molecular-kinetic grip on Adam was not broken and he strained to keep Adam in his molecular-kinetic grasp.

Bree watched with horror, yet fascination, as the two boys, the same age, struggled for control for another boy, much older, floating in the air.

Now there was something she didn't see every day.

It seemed as if it was at a draw when suddenly, beads of sweat began pouring down Chase's face. "I can't hold much longer, Adam! Bree! You have to help me!"

Marcus sneered. "That was pitiful. You can't hold on to your older brother with a molecular-kinetic grip for less than a minute!"

Now, even though Marcus and Chase were not actually touching Adam, the forces of physics still apply. (And as Chase was a genius, he knew the forces of physics-from acceleration to... well, everything!) It was like there was an imaginary rope connecting Adam to Marcus one way, and Chase another. If Chase let go, Marcus would go flying backwards with the unexpected weight of Adam.

And that is exactly what Chase did. He opened his hand like a flowering bud, so quickly Marcus didn't have time to prepare, before Marcus went flying.

Bree sped over, so fast she appeared to have teleported, towards Adam, and yanked him back towards the other end of the room where Chase was standing, tenderly massaging his neck where is his chip was, where he most likely had stressed the system.

Marcus groaned, in pain, and slowly picked himself up, concealing himself in a cloak of shadows. "You've trained hard," he commented, dusting himself off.

Chase grinned. "I certainly have, haven't I—whoa!" Before he was done bragging, Marcus, who had super-sped over to Chase and shoved him, had pushed him down.

Chase winced painfully, and Adam offered his arm. "You okay, Chasey?"

Chase glowered at Adam. "Really? Now?"

Adam smiled goofily. "I can't help it!" He cheerfully pulled Chase up and onto his feet, where they all resumed their fighting stances against Marcus, who had sped back over to the other side of the room.

Marcus waited for them to move. He was calibrating their moves when they had fought earlier, at the park, using his super smarts, and he anticipated Bree's next move perfectly.

She began creating a huge cyclone, stirring up the bricks and broken wooden boards and all of the other dust particles, creating such a thick, dense, barrier-like tornado that Marcus almost couldn't see.

_Almost._

_Super-sight engaged,_ green letters flashed in his head. His vision cleared and he could see everything distinctly, down to the red rings on Bree's mission suit while dust and dirt surrounded her in a foot-wide perimeter.

He activated his force field and began advancing on Bree, who was unaware he had his force field with him, since it was completely invisible unless something touched its boundaries.

She began advancing on him, with the brown mass of whirling objects swirling around her, she the eye of the "hurricane," faster and faster, until he sped towards her.

Almost immovable force met almost impenetrable force, and when they clashed together, neither of them could push each other.

Instead they found themselves pushing _against_ each other, willing the other force to collapse.

Marcus was ready to try the same trick on Bree that Chase had done on him, but Bree was smarter than he thought. Just as he was about to lower his force field, she disappeared in the swirling tornado.

Marcus strained, even with his super-sight, to see through the howling winds of bricks and red dust. Where was she?

And then he heard a voice. It was _his_! What had Bree done?

"Nice try, cupcake!" Bree said, in a perfect imitation of Marcus' voice. How had she done that?

Chase grasped Adam tightly. "Bree lost! That was Marcus!"

Bree switched back to her voice in her invisible hiding place, wherever she was. "_No one_ calls me cupcake!"

The _real_ Marcus yelled, "Bree, what are you doing!?"

Unfortunately, it made perfect sense with the fake conversation-the real Marcus was confused, and the fake Marcus could have been startled at how Bree was fake-attacking him. So, Chase and Adam continued cowering and watching the unmoving shadows behind the bricks, wondering who would win the fight.

Bree answered, in her real voice, "I'm winning this fight, Marcus, that's what I'm doing! She then once again switched to Marcus' voice. "Oh, really, princess? Let's make this fun, shall we?" She suddenly stopped spinning and the winds disappeared, only to be replaced with her moving super-fast, in circles, around Marcus, surprising him. His hair whipped around.

Adam gasped. "Marcus is playing Duck, Duck, Goose with Bree! Look at him go!" He pumped his arms and began cheering an inaudible cheer. Who he was cheering for, Chase never knew.

Chase rolled his eyes. "No, he's using his speed to stun her!"

For Bree was running so fast Chase and Adam couldn't actually see who was running around and who was the person _being_ ran around. They mistook Bree for Marcus, and Marcus for Bree.

The both watched Bree run around Marcus so fast their hair blew back and there was a shift in air temperature, and it gradually began to get cooler, and cooler, and cooler, almost to the point where it was freezing in the warehouse.

Marcus thought bitterly, _"Oh, she's a clever one all right._" Douglas had never given him vocal manipulation, although he had heard of it. Although—

Marcus was jerked out of his thoughts when Bree, who had been running in concentric circles around him, tighter and tighter, until she was practically touching him, yanked him by the left arm, the good arm, and threw him, with her speedy momentum, towards the wall, where he crashed into it.

Chase yelled, "Bree!" He was about to start running towards Marcus when Bree sped over to him. "Don't bother," she said.

Chase gaped. "But—but… that—that was you!"

"No," Bree corrected playfully. "You _thought_ that was me. Who knew vocal manipulation was so handy?"

Chase's confused frown broke into a grin, and he shoved Bree in the shoulder just as playfully. "You tricky she-demon!*"

"You're cleverer than I thought, _Bree_," Marcus spat as he stood up, back hunched, startling them all. "But you'll never beat me."

Bree smiled cockily. "Seems like I just did," she remarked.

Marcus smiled a slow smile. "Not in the long run," he replied. "I'm not going to spend the next twenty-four hours fighting with you. I have better things to do with my time," she said.

Adam broke in, challenging Marcus. "Like what, cry to the Apple employees that your pitiful little hard-drive crashed?"

Marcus scowled at Adam. "You three never let me finish!" His wires sparked, as though the angrier he got the louder _they_ sparked, but they quieted as Adam, Bree, and Chase recoiled, and Marcus continued. "I need you all to come with me."

Chase interrupted once more. "We'll never go with you, not in a million years."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I phrased that wrong," Marcus smirked. "I meant to say, you _will_ come with me, or else…*" he sped over to Bree and grabbed her with him, speeding back over to the side of the room he had "claimed" in the fight, before she could cry out, "…your little princess will die, right here, right now." He held the three spinning saws to Bree's throat, where they barely made contact with her skin, enough to bruise but not to bleed.

Bree's eyes widened as she begged, silently, for Chase and Adam to do something, _anything_-but to not save her! _Don't risk your lives by going with this monster,_ her eyes said inaudibly. _Save yourselves __while you can. Go to Mr. Davenport and escape now! Don't come back for me. Mr. Davenport will know what to do. I can protect myself. I'll be fine in Marcus' captivity._

Adam stared at Marcus as if he were a murderer, which, in fact, he practically was, brown eyes icy. Chase was looking at Marcus with a mixture of horror and shock that he would do such a thing; go to so far extremes.

After a minute stare-down, Chase consented.

"Fine," he said, his voice hard. "We'll go with you."

"Just don't hurt Bree," Adam negotiated, where Chase nodded, until Adam added, "She owes me five dollars from that bet during Bionic Brother Toss."

The intense staring evaporated. "Really, Adam?"

Adam shrugged. "I want my money's worth."

Chase sighed in annoyance and whispered to Adam, "This is our chance to take back Bree. We have to make Marcus believe that we're going along with his plan. And then, we stab him in the back."

Adam nodded furiously. "And then, we show Marcus our best nonexistent friend Bobo the monkey and he'll teach him how to love!"

"Honestly?" Chase looked daggers at Adam.

Adam smiled. "Monkey fantasies are popular now! Go with the flow, Chase! It'll get you a girlfriend!" He winked.

Chase groaned. He really would have to come up with a bionic comeback, such as briefly lifting Adam in the air with his molecular-kinesis, the next time Adam made a short joke about girlfriends. "Just go along with what Marcus wants for the time being and then follow what I do when I say do _it._"

Adam slid his hand over his face, and said, to accompany his actions, "Going into subtle mode."

(Page break.)

Donald Davenport paced, around and around and around the lab, wondering where Adam, Bree, and Chase were now. He was relieved that Chase had called, so now he could stop worrying that Chase, and Adam and Bree, were in danger—

"Stop it, Donald!" He yelled at himself. He struggled to keep his calm. Where were the kids? Even without Bree's speed, they should have been home by now…

He opened up a GPS signal map, and to his relief once more, he saw their GPS signals—one pink, one blue, one green.

"They're okay," he sighed, evidently reassured. "They're okay," he repeated, just to hear it once more.

He called to Leo, "Adam, Bree, and Chase are okay!"

Leo poked his head around the doors to the lab. "Yeah, Big D, I noticed! But why haven't they come home, yet? They could have just climbed on Bree and she could've sped them home... no, too many people would be around them if someone had bumped into Chase... hm..."

The small boy was in deep thought on why Adam, Bree, and Chase hadn't arrived home yet, but Donald was so giddy with relief he said once more, with laughter, "They're okay!"

Leo stared at Donald as if he was crazy. Which, in fact, he probably was. Crazy with relief, that is. "Yeah, okay, Big D, you're freaking me out now..." He edged out of the room and then stuck his head around once more. "By the way, Mom says it's time for dinner. She'll drag you up personally if you don't get up from that awful computer screen!" Near the end he imitated his mother's voice, though nowhere close to Bree's pitch-perfect vocal manipulation. He then pushed the button to the elevator and rode up.

Donald whispered it one last time, just savoring it on his tongue. "They're okay..."

But were they, really?

(Page break.)

Marcus leered in the darkness. He had set his trap. He had what he wanted. And now—he could prove those three things that he wanted. Those three things that he _needed._

Respect.

Independence.

And—

* * *

**Ha! Slight cliffie; can anyone guess what that oh-so-mysterious third thing is? Shout-out in the next chapter if ya can! Did you like it? Did you hate it? Tell me what you think; constructive criticism is _more_ than welcome :-)  
**

**Since this was such a relatively longer chapter than others and had some major fight scenes, I'm upping the amount of reviews I want for Chapter 11-I require _ten_. So tell everyone you know who likes Lab Rats about this story! ;-) So review, review, review! And also, an important note: this story will be placed on a minor hiatus for about two to three weeks, maybe a month at most, because I would really like to finish Thoughts of the Truth, as I haven't updated the epilogue for that in over two weeks. And there's the sequel I've started writing for that, Clandestine Covers (portmanteau title), and I'd like to get that up as soon as possible. So! This will not be updated, at a minimum, until two weeks later. I'm sorry, but there are some desperate Thoughts of the Truth fans that would like to see the final chapter.  
**

**Also, I noticed something ironic. It seems like KickandBelli WANTS to be yelled at because he/she always reviews under the same name! Crazy, right? Again, this is the last time I will mention KAB because all she/he wants is attention. I will warn other authors: she/he will, no doubt, begin flaming your stories if you stand up for me. If you are very passionate, (ahem, I'm talking to YOU, Rosie!) thank you very much! If not, that's fine. You don't have to stand up for me if you don't want to. Sending a PM is enough, though, as I have a very strong feeling she/he is reading the reviews that I have accumulated on this story. How do I know she'll flame on your stories? Because she/he's already flamed on poor daphrose's stories. That's why. And who knows who else she/he'll flame on?  
**

**Footnote #1: One of my friends on this site is a full-time she-demon-so that's where I got the idea to mention it! (That's right, Miss I-have-a-name-that-means-reborn, I'm talkin' to you!)  
**

**Footnote #2: This phrase (I changed it slightly) came from an author/friend of mine, KrisKat, from her story, At Gun Point! Check it out, as well as ALL of her other stories. They are worth your time and you will NOT regret it :-)**

**(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors and for the ranting, long, boring Author's Notes.)**


	11. AN DO NOT REVIEW ON THIS!

**Hey, y'all! This is, sadly, not a chapter. I just wanted to let you all know that I will be/am gone from June 6 to June 10. I can remotely access this site through _other _people's phones (because apparently, even though I'm older than sixteen, I'm not allowed to have a phone yet) or go onto one of my relative's computer since there will be wi-fi where I'm visiting.  
**

**This means no updates on Clandestine Covers, Marcus: Broken Android, or new stories/one-shots, reviews on other stories (you'll have to fill me in on the new stories you guys have published in a PM!), or PMs for the moment. Checking my _personal _email I can most likely _receive_ emails but I can't _respond. _Following me?  
**

**I'm sorry to say this, but this is just the way things are. **

**Please do not review on this A/N because it will be deleted when I get back from my little Boston trip. (If you've got anything you'd like to say, put it in a PM. Oh, boy, my inbox is going to be _flooded_ when I get back... :-O) Then if you _do_ review on this, I delete it and post the _real_ chapter. If you try to review on the real chapter, it says (for members) that you've already reviewed on the chapter, which you have, when it was just an A/N. Sorry if that was confusing. It's hard to put it in "easy" mode, but I think you get it!**

**Normally, I would put this in an A/N at the beginning of a real chapter, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to finish a chapter in time to post it before I leave on each of my stories that's still in progress.**

**Anyway, good-bye for now to whoever is reading this! I will _try _(Key word: TRY, people!) post a new chapter within a week when I get back... I can't promise anything, but I will try to do that. Bye now! Vacation, here I come!  
**

**(P.S. If you'd like more detail on my summer schedule, please visit the "Summer Schedule" section of my profile.) Thank you for your time!  
**


	12. Worry

**Hey, y'all! It's me with yet another chapter! Before you pounce on me, I'm sorry about the hiatus. But I really was very busy with other work. So this chapter is relatively short, but... I hope that you enjoy it! And I'm trying to cut down on the lengthy A/Ns. So this isn't really very long, is it? Anyway, without further ado, Chapter 11! It was rushed, yes, so... there may be some errors.  
**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

* * *

_Marcus leered in the darkness. He had set his trap. He had what he wanted. And now—he could prove those three things that he wanted. Those three things that he needed._

_Respect._

_Independence._

_And—_

Love. That was all he needed. That was what had been missing in his younger years—throughout his childhood, he had never received any love, any attention, any praise. His life had been training; his life had been being scolded, his life had been put down, saying he was never enough. And all Marcus wanted to do was change that.

The path to that, however, would be very bloody, very vicious, and very ruthless.

But he would make it work.

_He had to._

* * *

Douglas wouldn't have ever thought he actually cared about Marcus. In fact, his whole life, he'd just thought of him as "Hey, you," or "Come here." He never… _bonded _with him. And as a result, Marcus hated him. And maybe that was just what he deserved. But—as he looked up at the dark blue sky he thought about how Marcus had just walked _away_ from him, without any second thought. Without any thought, whatsoever. And it had actually hurt. Stung.

He needed to find him. Soon. Very soon. Because he had a plan formulating in his mind. But to be able to finish it, he needed Marcus. For safety, for protection, for reliability… just _everything._

The only problem would be getting Marcus to see his side of the story.

Yes, Douglas himself knew that he was… not _evil,_ quite, but certainly—sociopathic, shall we say. He refused to think of himself as bad. He only wanted to suit the needs of his customers, as he'd told Donald. And everyone refused to see his side of the story.

But Marcus knew him better than anyone else, save for Donald.

But _he had to get him to understand._

_**He's coming for you.**_

* * *

Donald was really very worried now. Where were the kids? Why weren't they coming? They needed to come, fast, soon, _now._ Chase had called, and they were supposed to be okay. Hadn't they been okay? There okay, right?

"Eddy, am I jittery? Do I seem jittery to you? Huh? Huh? _ANSWER ME!"_

Eddy flicked on, and said, "Whoa, there, Donny boy! Jittery? No! Demented? Yes!" And then he switched off.

Donald tried to calm himself down, but knowing Marcus was still alive and Douglas was on the loose, he just couldn't stop his heart from pounding so badly. He had to go find them.

He turned on the GPS cyberdesk and then tracked—or, _tried_ to track the chip signals.

But they were off.

No, they were on.

Off.

On.

_This makes no sense!_ Donald screamed mentally in frustration. _One second the chips are on, the next, they're off. Why are they toying with me?_

* * *

Marcus had brought Adam, Bree, and Chase with him to a vitamin store, where they'd gone into the second story. Bree was unconscious, because she'd fainted.

But something about Chase's suspicious behavior made him think that they were planning something… big.

But he had to trust Chase.

What did he want with them?

When Marcus played it out in his head, it sounded perfectly ridiculous. He wanted to bond with them. Get to know them. Maybe wonder what life could've been like if he'd remained friends with them, true friends, instead of betraying them. But they wouldn't trust him. Maybe they never would. It seemed impossible to make amends.

But he could try.

_You're not doing a very good job of it,_ his good side of him whispered. _What kind of friend threatens to hurt the person he wants to be friends with? Or fights them? Or nearly kills them?_

Something stirred in the darkness, and Marcus' eyes flicked over there. "Chase?" He asked. Only Chase would make that kind of sound. Maybe. But he'd classified their actions. Chase had a _distinct_ kind of movement whenever he moved. Hard to describe.

Then, that something went still. Marcus shouldn't have been worried. But something was in the air that seemed like a mysterious aftertaste of the Armageddon.

"_No," _a voice hissed maliciously. _"It's someone you thought you'd killed."_

Marcus jerked his entire head upward, and tried to discern the figure in the dark. That was most definitely not Chase's voice… but then what was it?

His eyes finally adjusted to the dark and then he saw someone that he thought had been left behind; thought for dead.

* * *

**Yes. Short. I'm sorry. I was rushing to get this up, like I said, because I'm really busy and I haven't updated in over a month. Updates will be between every one or two weeks and they will be slightly shorter or slightly longer than this. Occasionally - and I will tell you all - there will be a really long chapter like Ch. 10. But anyway, please review! I would like at least ten reviews for the next chapter. Unreasonable? No. Crazy and demented? That's me! See y'all around! Hopefully in that review box! Clandestine Covers will be updated soon. Probably by this weekend, okay?  
**

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**(I apologize for any spelling/grammatical errors.)**


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